


avenoir

by notquitepunkrock



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Did anyone ask for louper angst?, Excellent, F/M, Fights, Fluff, Friends to Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, Kissing, Miracusims - Freeform, Second Gen Miraculous Kiddos, cheesy as fuck, for like a hot second, no?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 05:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14073678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notquitepunkrock/pseuds/notquitepunkrock
Summary: avenoir- n. the desire that memory could flow backward





	avenoir

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BullySquadess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BullySquadess/gifts).



> hi hello this is inspired by a mess of a miracusims stream and it's very very odd and I'm very sorry about it. Except to Bully. She knew what she was doing when she mentioned a small town au. She brought this upon herself.
> 
> This got kind of long, so it's two chapters. Sorry about how bad the writing gets, I cannot write make out scenes to save my life and also I forgot how words work.
> 
> Also this randomly takes place in America, and I'm not sorry about it. I am a North Florida redneck this is all I know.

Piper shrieked and dashed away from Louis’ outstretched hands, a wide grin on her face. “You can’t catch me!” she yelled, ducking behind a tree. While Louis tried to get a headstart on where he was going to be, Piper ran towards his older siblings. With a last burst of effort, she threw herself to the ground behind Hugo and Emma as they sat beneath a tree.

Hugo jumped as her sticky fingers gripped at the back of his shirt until she’d pulled herself into a sitting position. “Hey, watch it!” he said, swatting at her hands. “Mom got this shirt when she and dad went to visit Grandpa Gabe. It’s expensive.”

Emma rolled her eyes and pressed her shoulder against his, effectively blocking Piper from view unless Louis was standing directly to the side of them. “What did my brother do now?” she asked, eyes following Louis as he peered underneath the porch. 

“I dared him to kiss me,” Piper giggled. “Then I ran away.” 

Hugo rolled his eyes heavenward, looking like he wanted nothing more than to escape, but he stayed sitting. His sister, however, looked like she was trying to keep herself from laughing. “I knew I liked you for a reason,” Emma announced. Piper looked offended, and she was quick to cover it up with an excuse. 

She was saved from awkwardness when Piper’s father rang the bell attached to the back deck. “The Blohms are here and it’s eatin’ time!” he yelled. Piper grinned and leaped up. Dinner bell meant automatic end to whatever game they were playing, which meant that she’d won, since Louis had failed to complete his last dare. She sprang up and ran towards the deck, catching up with her best friend at the bottom of the staircase.

He gave her a pathetic look, lower lip stuck out and eyebrows furrowed. “Cheater,” he complained, poking her in the shoulder. “That was super not fair.”

“Yeah, well, sucks to be you!” she replied. “I get first dibs on the ice cream bars.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Louis conceded, following her up the steps. 

After dinner, everyone moved to the front lawn. From where the Cesaire house was positioned, they could see the town’s fireworks over the trees, and the end of the long driveway was far enough to set off their own safely. 

This was Piper’s favorite part of the Fourth of July, she decided. Like everyone else except Hugo, who had taken up residence in on the bed of the Agreste’s truck, she was sitting cross-legged on a blanket and sucking on a cherry rocket-shaped popsicle. She and Louis were technically in charge of the little kids, Dom, who was six, and Bri, who was five, but there wasn’t too much that could go wrong as they played with sparklers on the driveway. Instead, she and Louis had their heads together, giggling over the small, secretive glances that Emma was sending her friend Lotte when they thought no one was looking.

“Think they’re dating?” Piper asked, arching an eyebrow. Louis shot a glance over his shoulder as Emma started giggling. He wrinkled his nose.

“Em doesn’t giggle. They’re totally dating,” he said. “Gimme some!” He reached over to grab Piper’s popsicle. She ducked away just in time, taking a pointed bite off the top.

“Get your own,” she complained.

Louis pouted at her, widening his blue eyes like the whole puppy dog routine actually worked on her. It hadn’t worked since they were little, and he knew it, but he was always quick to try. “Mom won’t give me anymore. She and Aunt Alya said I’ve had too many.”

“How many have you had?”

Louis looked down sheepishly, picking at a loose string on the edge of his cut off jeans. “Five,” he admitted. Piper giggled. No wonder he’d been cut off - Louis and sugar was never a good combination.

“You doof, you’re supposed to sneak them,” she teased, digging her elbow into his ribs. Louis yelped and shoved her sideways, but he was grinning. He turned to watch Bri and Dom as they spun around with their sparklers, the light reflecting in his eyes. 

He was pretty. Piper wished he knew that.

\----

Louis threw himself down on Piper’s bed, staring at the ceiling. “Luna hates me, I’m pretty sure,” he groaned, covering his face with his hands.

Piper turned her desk chair to face him and raised her eyebrows. “What did you do this time?” she asked. Louis let out a grunt and shrugged, sighing deeply. 

“I think we’re about to break up. For real, I mean,” he admitted. His lips tugged into a frown, and he sat back up. “She’s going to the city for college, and I’m going to Oasis. We won’t last.”

Privately, Piper let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t like Luna, and frankly wasn’t a fan of her and Louis together. It had nothing to do with her nonexistent crush on her best friend, though, despite what her brother said. That wasn’t even a factor.

“So, you’re really leaving?” she asked instead. She pulled her legs up onto the chair and crossed them. There was an acceptance letter sitting in the drawer of her desk to Myshuno University, but she had yet to tell him. With both Emma and Hugo going to school there as well, it was likely he was staying in town with his parents.

Louis shook his head. “Yeah, Oasis Community College here I come. I’m planning to rush for a frat and everything,” he said. “You’re still staying in town, right?”

Piper bit her lip, glancing down at her lap. “Um, about that,” she started. “I’m not staying in Willow Springs.”

His head popped up. “What?” he asked, scooting to the edge of the bed. “What do you mean? You have to stay, it’s only an hour away!” 

“I’m going to Myoshuno University. I got a scholarship,” she admitted. She hated the way her stomach flipped guiltily. It was her life. She shouldn’t feel guilty for doing what was right for herself. And yet, the way that Louis stared at her with his jaw dropped and pain in his eyes hurt her in a way that she’d never admit out loud.

“You can’t go!” Louis sounded desperate. She could see tears building in his eyes and his voice started to get scratchy and husky the way it did when he was trying his hardest not to cry. “You and Hugo and Emma can’t all be in Myoshuno! I’ll have no one. Pipes you have to stay.”

Damn him and his selfishness. “I have to do what’s right for me. There’s nothing for me in this town, Louis,” she said, pulling herself to her full height. With her standing and him sitting, she towered over him in a way that she hadn’t since they were kids, back when people at the General Store used to tease them about how much taller she was. 

“What about me?” he asked. “Am I nothing?”

“This isn’t about you Louis-” she started, but he cut her off. Piper balled her hands into tight fists. 

“God damn it, Piper, you can’t  _ do _ this to me!” He was yelling now, standing up so he was taller again. Piper wondered if her parents were home. She wondered if Dom could hear them from his room downstairs. She almost wished he’d come up and end the argument. She wasn’t even sure how they’d started arguing in the first place.

“To you?” she snapped. “I’ve done everything for you! I’ve put up with all of your bullshit for years. You’re so selfish, Louis. I’ve watched you falling all over yourself with fucking  _ Luna  _ for months and you’ve never even thought how it feels for me. It feels like shit because I fucking love you and you don’t even care.” 

Her words hung in the air between them. Louis took a step back. “Piper I-”

“Get out of my house,” she said quietly, voice steely. He opened his mouth to argue, but she wasn’t having it. This time she screamed it, so loud that she heard Dom’s bedroom door fly open. “Get the fuck out of my house!” 

Louis stared at her for a moment before turning to run out the door. Piper heard voices in the living room, heard Louis muffling something, and then suddenly Dom - sweet, quiet Dom who had never raised his voice in his life - yelled at him. She waited until she heard the door slam and watched Louis climb into that stupid purple truck of his before she collapsed onto her bed in tears. 

\----

The night before Piper was set to leave home was a mess of tears and hugs and last minute preparations. Her mom insisted on double and then triple checking her boxes to make sure she had everything, and her dad had given her a stack of carefully curated playlists for every possible occasion. Even Marinette had stopped by with a plate of Adrien’s cookies and about a half-dozen clothes in Piper’s size that she’d made in her own motherly panic over her third child leaving the nest. 

After dinner and a very long home movie marathon that had both of her parents in tears, Piper finally escaped to her room. Dom crept in behind her and across from her on the bed, studying her face. “You seem surprisingly cool with me leaving, Turtle,” she teased, poking him in the shoulder.

Dom shrugged, and easy smile crossing his face. “Dad said I can have your bed. I can’t wait for you to leave,” he joked. Piper laughed. It felt like something had been sitting on her chest all day, and her brother’s easy joking caused it to lift for the first time. She sighed and settled back into her pillows, the ratty old ones that she didn’t bother to pack for her new dorm.

“I’m gonna miss you, kid,” she admitted. 

“I’ll miss you too,” he said. “Bri and I are already planning a trip to San Myoshuno to visit you and her siblings.” 

Piper laughed. “I’ll make sure to put it on my calendar.”

The two siblings sat up and talked for a while, teasing each other good naturedly. They hadn’t gotten time like this in a while, not since Dom started high school and spending more time with Brigette and that Felix kid. It was nice. She’d missed him.

Sometime around eleven, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Piper froze, a small frown on her face. “Who the fuck could that be?” she asked. Her brother shrugged and stood up to check. The moment he cracked the door, he froze, his shoulders stiffening. He got into an angry whispered conversation with the person on the other side. Piper knew who it was.

“Let him in, Turtle,” she sighed, pulling a pillow into her lap. Dom opened the door all the way to reveal Louis, who looked messy and red-eyed. There were tear tracks down his cheeks, and he looked so pathetic she almost felt bad for ignoring him for the past three weeks. Almost.

“I’ll be awake for a while, yell if you need me,” Dom said, sending Piper a meaningful look. She nodded seriously, and he left the room, closing the door tightly behind him. Louis hovered by the door for a moment before Piper sighed and motioned for him to sit down at her desk.

“Piper, I’m so sorry,” he said, voice scratchy with unshed tears. “I’m a selfish dick. You deserve the world, and I treat you like shit.”

“You do,” she agreed quietly, scooting forward to the edge of her bed. She reached out and gently grabbed his face, pressing her forehead to his. “I’m still mad at you, you know.” Louis sniffled and nodded, his hands coming up to cover hers.

“I deserve that,” he said. “I’m so sorry Piper. I love you so much.” Those words hurt her. She felt her heart seize up and her eyes fill with tears and suddenly she didn’t care what had happened anymore. She wanted to kiss him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

“Is this okay?” she asked quietly. Louis nodded, and she pressed forward, covering his mouth with her own.

Piper had never kissed anyone before. It was a sloppy and desperate at first, almost unpleasant. Her neck was at a weird angle and she kept bumping Louis’ nose with her own. But then he shifted onto the bed and pulled her into his lap, and then she tilted her head one way and he went the other, and the kisses got hungrier and  _ oh _ . That was why people were so obsessed with making out. 

She dragged her teeth across his bottom lip and he groaned, surging forward. All of the anger and heartache and pain from both sides came surging forward in their kisses, and then suddenly it slowed to something soft and gentle. Louis’ hands shifted to wind themselves in her braids, and her arms relaxed around his neck. This was nice. This was almost better.

It felt… right. Like they were supposed to be doing this all along.

Piper didn’t know how long they kept kissing like that. It could have been minutes, or hours, or days. She should tell him to leave - if someone saw him leaving in the morning, the whole town would know by lunchtime. When people showed up at Marinette’s boutique, that would be all they’d talk about. Everyone knew they hadn’t been speaking, so something like that would drive the town wild.

She couldn’t force herself to stop.

At some point, they slowed, and then stopped. Piper fell asleep with her head on Louis’ chest. If only this could last.

When Piper woke up in the morning, it was nearly seven. Her family was due to pile into the minivan at seven-fifteen. Louis was still fast asleep, wrapped around Piper like she was his lifeline. She carefully extracted herself from him and stared at his sleeping face. He was so beautiful when he was asleep.

They were bad for each other. Piper knew it, and Louis knew it. The whole town had known from the day they met, had whispered about being bad influences ever since the first time they skipped school at the young age of nine. They could never work.

If Louis woke up by the time she left, Piper decided, it would be a sign they could work it out. 

She took a shower, got dressed in the clothes she’d set out the day before, and shoved the last of her things into a bag. Her parents had run to the store with Dom to grab some road trip snacks, but there was a still-warm omelet sitting on the stove. Piper ate quickly and walked back up to her room. Louis was still asleep.

The gravel of the driveway crunched under the wheels of the minivan as her family returned. There was a long, loud honk as her mother lay on the horn. Piper texted that she’d be down in a minute.

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a pen and some of the fox stationary that Emma had gotten her years ago. Quickly, Piper scribbled out a note, folding it gently and carefully taping it to the front of Louis’ shirt, where he’d be sure to notice it when he woke up.

It only took a moment to cross her room, throwing her bag over her shoulder. In the doorway, she paused for a moment, looking back at Louis. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and then she was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos make me happy  
> come yell at me on tumblr @ moonys-crappy-doodles or over-the-moony-for-padfoot


End file.
